Seven Deadly Sins
by blackrose113
Summary: Seven deadly sins. Four missions gone wrong. Sometimes things don’t always go the way they’re planned. Sometimes you have to deal. Some people do it differently than others. Gaara. Hinata. Ino. Sakura. Shikamaru. Tenten. Temari. Slight InoShika
1. Sin 2 Gluttony: Hinata

**Disclaimer:** Don't own, don't sue.

**Summary:** Seven deadly sins. Four missions gone wrong. Sometimes things don't always go the way they're planned. Sometimes you have to deal. Some people do it differently than others.

**The Seven Deadly Sins**

Chapter 2: Gluttony

-0-

_Gluttony: gula; Wasting of food, either through overindulgence in food, drink or intoxicants, misplaced desire for food for its sensuality, or withholding food from the needy._

-0-

Hinata bowed before the Hokage as she and the rest of her team were dismissed. What was left of her team, at least. Half of them were gone. Half of them were strewn across a forest clearing in bits and pieces. Actually, some of them were on Hinata right now.

'_I failed.'_

Once she was out of the tower she quickly leapt to the nearest roof and flew from rooftop to rooftop. Blood and pieces of flesh flew off her clothes as the wind whipped at them.

"HEY HINATA-CHAN!"

Hinata, had she been in her right mind, would've blushed and waved back to Naruto, who, at the moment was frantically waving to her along with his friends. Sakura was nowhere to be seen. Hinata, had she been in her right mind she would've also wondered at her whereabouts, as Sakura had set off in that direction after they had returned from their mission. Yes, Sakura had been there with her.

But she wasn't in her right mind. Not at all. Half of her team had just _died._ Hinata continued on her way.

-0-

"_AMBUSH!"_

_Hinata immediately activated her Byakugan and her eyes widened; there had to be at least two dozen bandits attacking! "TWO DOZEN! WE'RE SURROUNDED!"_

_Hinata dropped into the Gentle Fist Taijutsu style and shut down the chakra coils of the bandit that had tried to attack from behind her. She fought easily despite the fact that she was outnumbered six to one._

_Sakura, a few feet away, was punching away with her super-human strength when she decided to use a genjutsu and four of the bandits clutched their head in pain. She quickly knocked them unconscious and ran to help Hinata, who was being attacked by more bandits._

_Hinata frowned as she felt another presence and she quickly pushed her eyesight to look further…there! Another surge of chakra and there was a scream. Sakura formed a long string of seals in fast movements and a small barrier came up around herself and Hinata, whom she had her back to._

"_Hinata! What do you see!"_

_The Byakugan searched and located where the chakra had been; it was so strong that it had left a residual dust in the air visible to her eyes. Her stomach lurched as she looked below the shimmering particles. A hand lay there looking as if it had been burned off, on top of a pile of cooked, smoking flesh. The smell permeated the air just as another scream did._

_Sakura let the shield down and she and Hinata battled towards the members of their group that were on the edges of the clearing, both understanding that they would most likely be next. The attacker had to be hiding among the trees._

_Another scream proved them wrong. Hinata spun around and felt something hot and wet and soft slap against her cheek; a horrified expression crossed her face as she pulled the piece of thigh from herself and let it land on the ground. The bandits were dwindling and whatever ninja or demon who had caused these deaths was still masking his chakra._

_Hinata closed her eyes and blocked out all sounds other than her heartbeat; Sakura would protect her. _

_She could feel it but she couldn't pinpoint it. She could feel it moving! In a flash she was at Cho's side and she thrust her hand out to block the arm that came towards her._

_Quicker than her Byakugan could see another arm went for her stomach and she just barely dodged as his knuckles scraped the side of her stomach instead. Sakura and Cho had finished off the rest of the bandits and the _thing_ disappeared._

_A breeze blew through the clearing and Hinata caught the strong scent of blood—stronger than it should be even with the bodyparts strewn around the forest—and ducked as the clawed hand aimed for her shoulder._

_Sakura, having thought ahead, finished the last seal of a barrier jutsu and trapped whatever _It_ was in a transparent yellow bubble of chakra. All three kunoichi got into fighting position and carefully watched as _It_ pulled back the hood of _Its_ cloak and grinned._

_There was a loud explosion and the sickening sounds of meat smacking a barrier were heard by the surviving group. The _thing_ had shoved chakra filled claws into his stomach and Hinata, following with the Byakugan, saw small balls of chakra and chakra enhanced fire make their way through the veins of _It._ Instead of exploding right away as she had expected, the chakra fueled the fire to such an intensity that it burned through the flesh and bone before an explosion._

_She heard Cho fall to her knees and vomit as Sakura patted her on the back and applied a jutsu to help with her nausea, eventually just settling for putting her into a deep sleep and slinging her over her shoulder._

_Tears of horror slid down her face and she walked out of the clearing, "C'mon, Hinata. He just skimmed your side. The most you'll get is a bruise. It's good he didn't break the skin or else…"_

_Or else she'd have exploded as well._

_Hinata and Sakura, who still held Cho, sprinted back to the gates of Konoha and to the Hokage's tower._

_C-Class Mission: Retrieve Parrot-**Failure**_

-0-

Hinata nearly cried in relief when she saw the barbeque just thirty feet away. She increased her pace and landed outside the glass doors, pushing it open and nodding at the man who would take her to her seat.

"Table for one, please."

She inhaled the scent of barbeque-ing meat on the grill at her table and, using her chopsticks, pulled it off and onto her plate. She practically shoved it down her throat in excitement, only to have it come back up again.

_The smell of cooked human flesh made her stomach churn as she looked at the hand_—she watched the meat burn to charcoal on the grill.

"Ch-check please."

-0-

Hinata realized how stupid she had been, going to the barbeque after her last mission. She should've come here.

Hinata tossed box after box in, bag after bag, and when the cart was finally full, she brought it to the cash register. Charging the food to her personal account, she waited impatiently for the sales clerk to bag it, then she grabbed the bags and sprinted home.

Once she was safe in her room, she tore open the plastic wrappings on the boxes and opened one, closing her eyes to relish the smell.

One chocolate after another was pushed eagerly into her mouth and she chewed as quickly as her jaws allowed, eating sour gummy worms the moment she could fit them in. When she had swallowed the chunk of carbohydrates and calories, she ripped an opening in one of the many bags of chips she had bought and ate them in a frenzy.

Then she moved on to a box of soft cookies that she devoured quickly. Hinata grabbed the bottle of milk she had bought and guzzled it down, glancing at the doorway to her bedroom and making sure it was locked. It was.

Another box of chocolates, a box of caramels, another bag of chips. A can of soda and a carton of wafers. A box of pocky and another box of gummy worms. A cake and another bottle of milk. Half a gallon of mint chocolate chip ice cream.

It was another two hours before Hinata could stop and she settled on the ground, eventually crawling away from the mess on the floor to hide under her bed where she would fall asleep. Tomorrow, she'd continue, but for right now, she just wanted to sleep.

-0-

A week later, the maid came in and found the door unlocked. She hadn't even bothered to try it until now. She cleaned Hinata's room, throwing away empty chocolate boxes and candy wrappers, wiping the sticky floor where soda or ice cream had spilled, and she pulled the blanket out from under the bed and carefully folded it, placing back in the corner of the bed to sit with the rest of her security dolls and security blankets.

Hinata walked it, her chin length hair gleaming and he face slightly tired, but calm and happy. "Ohayo, Migumi-san."

Migumi smiled and bowed, "Ohayo Hinata-sama," quietly taking out the garbage bag and wet rag she had brought to clean with, and closed the door after her. Hinata pulled on a light brown jacket and looked in the mirror, giving a small smile at her reflection.

-0-

"HEY HINATA-CHAN!"

Hinata blushed and waved back to Naruto who was still not accompanied by Sakura. "H-hey Naruto-kun."

"Wanna go visit Iruka-sensei at the academy?"

Hinata felt like she was going to faint. He had asked her to go somewhere with him! "S-sure N-Naruto-kun."

'_Until next time, then.'_

-0-

**A/N: **This fic was inspired by Elizabeth Culmer's Rituals, which is an excellent story, and the definition at the top is from wikipedia. **Please review!**


	2. Sin 4 Sloth: Sakura

**Disclaimer:** Don't own, don't sue.

**Summary:** Seven deadly sins. Four missions gone wrong. Sometimes things don't always go the way they're planned. Sometimes you have to deal. Some people do it differently than others.

**I'm changing the order of the chapters around, even though they will still be labeled in their original order (least sinful to most heavily punished), so it will be easier for readers.**

-0-

**The Seven Deadly Sins**

Chapter 4: Sloth

-0-

Sloth: _acedia_; laziness; idleness and wastefulness of time allotted.

-0-

Sakura struggled up to the hill her house was on. _'Right, left right left, right, left…'_ She managed to get her keys out of her pocket and she unlocked the door, pushing it open. With a thump, her bag fell to the ground and she trudged through the house to her room.

She fell before she reached her bed and stretched her arm under to find the futon she slept on after bad missions. It took all of her effort to drag it out and she collapsed on top of it, her breath coming in heavy pants.

"N-need to…need to…shower…"

Her muddled brain wouldn't allow her to form a complete sentence and she had felt her eyelids drooping the moment her head hit the futon. "M'be la'er," she mumbled and Sakura promptly fell asleep.

-0-

A hand shook her shoulder furiously and jolted Sakura awake.

"Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan!"

She opened her eyes and yawned, squinting at the bright light of the lamp by her bed.

"Sakura-chan! I saw your door open and I thought…" Naruto trailed off, worry clear in his eyes. He had remembered Sakura stumbling by him a little bit after Hinata had passed and checked on her when he heard the bad news of the mission.

Sakura sat up and rubbed her eyes. Her hand still smelled like blood. "I'm fine, Naruto, just a little tired."

Naruto nodded and, with a little wave, walked out of her room and presumably out of her house. Sakura's stomach rumbled slightly and she winced. When had she last eaten?

_Sakura's mouth was open in a silent yell as she slaughtered the bandits around her. There was a loud shriek and she choked._

'_What the…'_

_She reached into her mouth and pulled out a thin, slimy _thing._ There was a piece of flesh still attached at the end…_

Sakura felt her stomach lurch and she quickly turned over onto her stomach and retched onto the floor. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and coughed. The pungent smell of blood and cooked human meat reached her nose…Sakura retched again.

She dragged herself to her feet and made her way to the bathroom where she was intent on taking a shower and brushing her teeth. She scratched the back of her neck and continued long after the itch was gone, idly moving her fingers down her shoulder and to the palm of her hand.

With a weak giggle, she traced the creases on her hand, filled with blood. She used her nail to see if she could scrape it all off. She couldn't. Some of the pigment had soaked into her skin and stained it.

Sakura's stomach rumbled again and she frowned, forgetting entirely why she was in the bathroom. Cooking would take too much time. She wasn't up to it, anyways. Sakura yawned and walked to the kitchen, grabbing a take out menu and pushing the 'speaker' button on her phone. She dialed the number and ordered tempura and onigiri with some miso soup.

Sakura didn't bother to hang up the phone and just listened to the flat dial tone. She sat in her chair with her head tilted back and her mouth open, staring at the cracks in the ceiling. She was almost tempted to just sit there when the doorbell rang, probably her take out, but decided that her stomach was more important.

-0-

Her lips and tongue were singed and they felt a strange fuzzy sensation. _'Probably just the effect of burning them and then eating cooooold onigiri'_ she thought absent mindedly. The doorbell rang again and Sakura groaned, calling out, "IT'S OPEN!" and as an after thought, "AND I GOT A KUNAI! SO DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT ROBBING US!"

Ino poked her head into the kitchen and wrinkled her nose. "Ew, hey forehead girl! What's that smell?"

Sakura sniffled but refused to let the tears fall, "Vomit."

Ino made a face, walking over to steal an onigiri, "We were gonna go out today, remember Sakura-chan?"

Sakura shrugged, "No. Sorry. You still wanna go?"

Ino sighed and shook her head at her friend, "You're no fun today. Let's just watch a movie here or something."

Sakura shrugged again, "Whatever floats your boat."

Ino continued talking just for the sake of filling up the awkward silence that would've fallen around them had she stayed silent, "Stupid Chouji's at guard duty now. Man I _hate_ being a chuunin sometimes. I mean, one and a half months of guard duty every year! What hell! He wanted to be here for the opening night of that new barbeque place so he didn't come when Shika and I went. Supposedly it's better than the one he goes to all the time already. He left a couple weeks ago."

Sakura nodded and ate a piece of carrot tempura.

"Let's go to the living room, eh forehead girl?"

Sakura nodded again and got up from her chair, throwing herself onto a beanbag in front of the TV. "Let's see what we have here," Ino muttered as she went through Sakura's DVD rack, "Zombies, Return of the Zombies, Return of the Zombies II… Kami Sakura! Do you actually _watch_ this stuff?"

Sakura shook her head, "No," not offering any more explanation.

Ino popped 'Return of the Children of the Zombies III' into the DVD player and laid down on her stomach next to Sakura's beanbag, "Turn off the lights."

Sakura glanced at her friend and sighed, making an effort to get up before collapsing in a heap on the piece of 'furniture' and Ino rolled her eyes at Sakura's laziness. "You're getting to be like Shikamaru now! Next think I know, you'll be staring at the clouds!"

Sakura didn't even bother to answer, she just stayed in the same position she had fallen in.

"ALRIGHT FOREHEAD GIRL! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU!"

Sakura looked at Ino and sighed a long, tired, sad sigh. "You know that other smell? Besides the vomit?"

Ino made the same face she had before and made fake gagging sounds.

"Well, it's cooked human flesh. Entrails, skin, nails…the whole nine yards."

Ino blanched and grabbed her stomach, "W-what?"

Sakura's eyes glazed over and she turned onto her stomach, her voice muffled by the leather of the beanbag, "Yuppers. G'night, Ino."

She was asleep before Ino even got out of the house, and she slept for another two days. When she woke up, she scratched at her dirty hair and rubbed her grimy neck. She grabbed some of her leftover take out dinner and walked outside to her small backyard, where she laid down and stared at the sky.

-0-

"Sakura-chan? We're home!"

Sakura had fallen asleep outside the day before and she turned her head towards her house. _'I probably chased the _bugs_ away with my smell,'_ she thought as she nearly choked when she took a breath.

Her mother slid open the screen door to the backyard and grinned at her daughter, who didn't grin back.

"SAKURA!"

Sakura winced at the sound. _'So loud…'_

Her father's angry face soon came into view and she gave him a blank look.

"Don't look at me like that young lady! You know what you did!"

Sakura's expression didn't change, "You _threw up_ all over the house! You got blood and dirt all over your futon _and_ the house! Flies are starting to come over to this tempura sauce!"

'_Nope. The bugs live on. Just maybe not in the grass.'_

Her mother's smile soon became a scowl, "I was _wondering_ what that smell was! When was the last time you took a shower! Go clean up this instant!"

'_Oh how quickly parents' moods change,"_ Sakura lamented.

**_-There's much _more_ to lament than just moodswings!-_ **Inner Sakura screamed, angry at having to hold back the torrent of memories that was ready to wash over Sakura.** _–Just DEAL with it!-_**

Sakura ignored her inner voice and got up, shoving her hands into the pockets of the vest she still donned. She pushed past her parents and went up to her room where she shoved open a window and leapt out, hopping from one roof to the next and making her way to a field of flowers that she and Ino had once played in.

-0-

Sakura swatted away another bee and groaned. This wasn't happening. Apparently her smell _hadn't_ chased away the bugs. Not even the ones in a five foot radius.

_**-Denying it does nothing.-**_

'_I was talking about the bees.'_

_**-You still could've tried harder…-**_

'_To swat the bees away?'_

_**-Why did you only put a shield around Hinata and yourself?-**_

'_Because I didn't have enough energy to put one up around the others._

_**-LIAR!-**_

'_Because I couldn't pinpoint their position.'_

_**-You fucking LIAR!-**_

Sakura sniffled and she began to sob at the viciousness of her Inner Self's voice; she rolled over onto her side, her shoulders shaking with hiccups. She didn't weep silently as she had done so often in her past, in an attempt to muffle them. She took ragged gasps and loud, sorrowful cries rang throughout the field.

'_BECAUSE I WASN'T THINKING OF THEM!'_

**_-Why weren't you thinking of them! How cowardly are you! You're not a team player you're just a _fraud!_ Kakashi-sensei would be so ashamed of you!_-**

Sakura screamed and wrapped her arms around her stomach in an attempt to heal the hole she felt within her. "I didn't mean to I didn't mean to I'm so sorry…"

_**-Being sorry won't bring them back to life! Their dead! DEAD! Three more names to add to that beautiful black memorial that Kakashi-sensei visits all the time. Three more names. Three more dreams destroyed and three more mourning families and three times the shame and three times...THREE!-**_

Sakura curled herself into a ball and sobbed into her knees, relishing and hating the smell that came off of her. The blood was her fault. The flesh was her fault. The sweat and dirt and strained muscles and she hadn't been able to save them! She deserved this guilt.

'_I didn't MEAN TO! Go away go away just go away and—'_

"LEAVE ME ALONE!"

-0-

Sakura had wandered over to the trees in the park and climbed up. She sat there for days, alternating between watching the sky and watching the happy families below her.

'_I really should tell Tsunade-san that I won't be there for training today…'_

Sakura yawned and stretched noisily. Naw. Too much trouble. She'd make it up the next time she saw her.

Sakura returned home four days later and carefully swept and cleaned the whole house.

'_Until next time, then.'_

-0-

**A/N: **This fic was inspired by Elizabeth Culmer's Rituals, which is an excellent story. **Please review!**


	3. Sin 1 Lust: Gaara

**Disclaimer:** Don't own, don't sue.

**Summary:** Seven deadly sins. Four missions gone wrong. Sometimes things don't always go the way they're planned. Sometimes you have to deal. Some people do it differently than others.

-0-

Also, I doubt any of these characters will "deal" the way you may think they do. I wanted to show that bad missions affect each of them in a way no one would expect.

-0-

**Seven Deadly Sins**

Chapter 1: Lust

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_Lust: luxuria; Unlawful sexual desire, such as desiring sex with a person outside marriage._

-0-

Things don't always go right. In fact, things barely ever went right in Gaara's life, but missions went right. He was Gaara. _He_ was a mistake, yes, but his missions _always went right._

This time, the mission _didn't_ go right. He felt like exploding. But future Kazekage don't explode, so he didn't. He walked to his private training grounds and swung his arm out, a large wave of sand obeying his will, and crushed a large boulder a few feet away. What was it that he felt…?

_Disappointment…_

Shukaku taunted him in his head,

_-HAHA! Let me out and I can fix it for you…let me out and you'll never be defeated again…-_

The voice was quickly shut out by a wave of cold, which would have had Gaara shivering were he not more controlled than that. He closed his eyes for a moment before they flew open and he smiled viciously, "Thank you…_mother."_

-0-

His cloak hood up and his gourd covered, Gaara walked into the first bar he saw. Smokey air mixed with the smell of sweat engulfed him and he walked to the bar counter and ordered a warm sake.

Five cups later he wasn't feeling any better.

Gaara rested his head on his folded arms and groaned when there was a soft tap on his shoulder. His lightening fast reflexes had the hand twisted back—a little more force and the wrist would easily snap.

He had worked on his taijutsu and speed ever since his near defeat at Lee's hands. Nonetheless, his sand had quickly hardened around him as a second-skin-shield.

The girl was young, only his age, and she whimpered slightly as she bent her knees to lessen the pressure.

"What do you want," Gaara snarled, bringing his face closer to hers so she could see the wide, frenzied eyes. The girl opened her mouth to answer but could only whimper again, so Gaara dropped his hold on her, though he was still wary.

"I-I thought you were drunk. I was wondering if you needed any help. You had your head down…"

Gaara's eyes flashed. She had seen him in a moment of weakness. He was lucky she hadn't recognized him yet. Deciding to humor her, he got another cup of sake and downed it in a gulp, giving her a manic grin and whispering, "Bad mission."

The girl nodded and sat in the stool next to Gaara, her shaking subsiding to a mere tremble.

"W-would you like to talk about it?"

Gaara downed another cup and leaned forward, trapping her between his two arms, his body, and the bar counter. He moved closer still so that his body was almost against hers and brushed his lips by her ear, "Not really."

His eyes lit up at the fast beating of her heart and he absently wondered how much faster he could make it go. He pressed himself flush against her and smirked as her heartbeats, as well as her breath, quickened even more. It distracted him from the dropping sensation of disappointment that was still in his stomach.

Gaara lowered his head to meet her dark gray eyes and his lips crashed into hers. He could feel the need to take her and he fought for some semblance of control. He didn't win.

_Everyone needs to lose sometime. There is no such thing as perfect control. Perfection is flawed…_

His eyes bored into hers and his tongue forced her lips apart, tasting her, enjoying the heat that rushed through him. The girl's eyes slid closed and she wrapped her arms around his waist and moved them up his back. Gaara's fingers moved downwards and dug into her hips and his sand enveloped them, bringing them to the alleyway at the back of the bar.

His sand slid back into his gourd. Gaara moved from her lips to her neck and took note of the rapid breath and moans that followed when he nipped and sucked at different parts of her neck. Slowly, he moved further down and had ripped off her shirt.

He took her right there against the wall.

_Carnal desires are natural…carnal desires need no control…carnal desires allow release…_

The girl screamed the fourth time in half an hour and dug her nails into Gaara's back. Her breath was coming in fast pants, as was Gaara's, and she let her lips trail down to his collar bone. If he could do this here, what could he do in an actual bed?

_This could help him forget. He wouldn't need to feel disappointment; he wanted to feel something else, anything else, everything else…_

The sand swept them up again and she was about to find out.

-0-

Gaara brushed his teeth and took a long, hot shower, making sure to scrub himself twice over as usual. When he wiped himself dry, he donned his usual fishnet shirt, black shirt and black pants, jounin vest, and his wrappings and sandals.

_He couldn't kill. He couldn't maim. It was an outlet. He had to let go some time. Missions didn't go wrong. Missions don't go wrong. Missions wouldn't go wrong. But now he had a form of release._

He toweled his hair dry quickly and strapped his gourd onto his back before he walked into the kitchen and sat at his usual seat to eat a piece of toast and drink a glass of juice. The last month had been fun, as had been the forty-nine girls, but now he was over it and ready for another mission.

'_Until next time, then.'_

-0-

**A/N: OMG!** This chapter was so hard to write! I kinda wanted to skip this sin. --0 I put it off until after I had finished Gluttony and Envy, which were a LOT easier to write They're also a lot better. That's why this chapter is so short. Well, none of my other sins will have limes in them so NO WORRIES! This fic was inspired by Elizabeth Culmer's Rituals, which is an excellent story. **Please review!** Also, the definitions in the beginning ALL COME FROM WIKIPEDIA.

**BTW! This story isn't supposed to offend anyone, so sorry if it does. I myself am an atheist and this is only a STORY.**


	4. Sin 6 Envy: Tenten

**Disclaimer:** Don't own, don't sue.

**Summary:** Seven deadly sins. Four missions gone wrong. Sometimes things don't always go the way they're planned. Sometimes you have to deal. Some people do it differently than others.

**The Seven Deadly Sins**

Chapter 6: Envy

-0-

_Envy: invidia; Resentment of others for their possessions_

-0-

The whistling of the kunai was the only thing that signaled its flight to the tree as it moved too quickly for the eye to see. It landed with a loud 'thud' as it imbedded itself in the wood and several leaves floated down.

'_Damn it.'_

A round of shuriken was thrown at the same spot, sparks flying out when metal scraped against metal.

'_DAMN it.'_

A barrage of exploding tagged kunai was then hurtled at the tree and in seconds, it had teetered over and splintered another tree.

'_DAMN IT!'_

Tenten leaped forward to collect her weapons and repeated this process with another tree.

'_We failed.'_

She screamed and ran at a tree some meters away, aiming her kunai so that once she reached the trunk, she could run up without chakra and leap down.

"I FAILED!"

She closed her eyes and enjoyed the feel of the wind rushing past her as she fell to the ground, landing with a graceful flip and then reaching into her seemingly endless supply of kunai and shuriken and flung them in random directions.

"DAMN IT! DAMN IT DAMN IT DAMN IT!"

She took a wakizashi and threw it with all her might, slicing off a thick branch from one of the trees. She then threw shuriken in a line at the falling branch and, with a running head start and the help of quite a bit of chakra, kicked it fifteen meters away.

"ARG!"

How could that mission have failed? HOW! It was just a retrieval mission!

-0-

"_Apparently one of our ninja were injured at this outpost," Shikamaru muttered as he scanned the mission scroll. "It's a simple C class mission. It should be easy. We'll take the route through the forest to the village and pick up all reports as well as the ninja."_

_Tenten and Ino nodded._

"_We'll meet here at 8:00 tomorrow morning. Pack enough for a week."_

_Tenten nodded again and, seeing that he was done talking, she walked away to go pack. She wasn't really in the mood for training today._

_The next morning, the trio leapt up to the branches of the trees of the forest and swiftly headed towards the village. It was only a day and a half's run away, but the return trip would take much longer with the injured ninja._

_They reached the village the night after the day they left and headed for the village's infirmary._

"_It's too quiet here," Shikamaru murmured._

"_Yeah. It's kinda creepy. Do you think it was just a trap?" Ino whispered quietly._

"_They didn't specifically request for us so I doubt it was us they wanted…"_

_Tenten remained silent and they continued on to their way to the white building to pick up their ninjas. When they entered it, however, it seemed empty and, just as it was outside, eerily quiet._

"_May I help you?"_

_Ino gasped in surprise while Shikamaru and Tenten turned around. Shikamaru had noticed her shadow moments before, as had Tenten._

"_We're the ninja from Konoha here to pick up our injured nin."_

_The nurse nodded, "Follow me."_

_The three teens followed the nurse to a room and slid open the door. Ino gasped. Tenten's eyes narrowed. Shikamaru crossed his arms over his chest and the nurse copied._

_The nin there were all blank eyed with blue tinted lips and black splotches on their skin. "That's the result of the kurotakai poison. It takes a full twenty-four hours for the poison to. Don't worry, it was relatively painless for your friends."_

_The nurse smirked and reached to pull kunai from the pouch at her waist only to find that she couldn't move. She glared at Shikamaru, who shrugged, forcing her to do so as well, "Kagemane no Jutsu."_

"_You BASTARD!"_

_Apparently that was a signal because a swarm of missing nin attacked right then._

-0-

Tenten shuddered as she remembered the genjutsu she had been trapped in. Her family dead. Her teammates dead. Tsunade, though dead, whispered to her that she had failed. She remembered the horror she felt coursing through her when she had fallen onto the corpse of a chuunin she recognized. Chouji.

They had Shikamaru! They had Ino. They had _her!_ They had still failed. _She_ had failed. The missing nin were either dead or escaped, the daimyo released from his prison, but had they gotten there earlier they might've saved the lives of twenty Konoha nin hired there as guards.

'_If I had been able to use an effective jutsu…Even that bimbo Ino can do ninjutsu! I should learn some more. It's so unfair! IT'S SO UNFAIR! I work so hard and she just comes prancing in with her perfect hair and her ninjutsu skills!'_

Tenten unsheathed her katana and examined her reflection. She kept perfect care of her weapons so they shone the same as the day they had been bought.

'_Brown eyes, brown hair. Olive complexion.'_

She looked down at her front and then twisted to see her back.

'_Average bust. Short legs. Small waist. Small butt, thick ankles.' _

She sighed angrily and punched a tree, cursing when she drew her hand bloodied away.

'_I bet Ino doesn't have a _single scar_ on her! She probably has perfect, smooth skin, while I have scars everywhere! She probably has Sakura fix them for her.'_

Tenten scowled darkly. How come everyone else had everything, while she had nothing? She didn't have beautiful looks or impressive skills or even coveted _blood._ She thought back to the chuunin exam when Lee had gotten hits on Gaara. _GAARA!_ She had been defeated in mere minutes by his sister and Lee, without any ninjutsu or weapons, had gotten hits on a DEMON VESSEL!

Tenten felt her pent up frustration come in the form of tears.

Neji had fought a memorable battle with Naruto. She had lost in MINUTES! She was always overshadowed by her team. Hell, she was even in the background compared to Ino and Sakura, whose match had been the most _boring_ one in the prelims. Who knew the name of Tenten then?

Who knew the name of Tenten now? What with the Genius of Geniuses and the Beautiful Green Beast of Konoha. Compared to the firey, beautiful Yamanaka Ino who could charm a shogun or a daimyo in a week and disappear seconds after she killed them and Haruno Sakura, promising student of Tenten's idol, Tsunade, and a quickly advancing medical nin.

Look at _Hinata_! She was the heir to the Hyuuga clan! Why was she the most unremarkable kunoichi of her generation!

'_Stupid Sakura. She thinks that just because she trains with Tsunade, that she's better than everyone else. Her forehead is so fucking huge, I would've thought that she'd cast a genjutsu to hide it just like her teacher does to hide her age. She spends so much time on her hair and nails! She's so _stupid!_ She's even dumber than Ino. At least Ino gave up on Sasuke when she was still a genin. I can't believe that pink haired idiot is still chasing him.'_

Tenten looked at her hands and screamed in frustration, bringing them up to cover her face. Her average, run of the mill, easily overlooked face.

-0-

Tenten sat hunched over her bowl of ramen when Naruto and Sakura wandered over. She scowled and put her hand on the side of her face, blocking it from view of her fellow chuunins.

'_How come _she_ can stay so skinny with the crap she eats? I hate her so much. I bet she never exercises. She's probably bulemic!'_

"Um, it's Tenten-san, right?"

"What do you want!" Tenten snapped angrily.

'_How come she gets such a nice voice? How come she gets green eyes and pink hair when I'm stuck with brown. She doesn't deserve anything. No one would even notice her if she wasn't teammates with Sasuke and Naruto.'_

"Well, I noticed your hand was bleeding and I was wondering if you nee—"

Tenten finally snapped. "I DON'T NEED ANY HELP FROM _YOU!"_ she roared and she flung some coins onto the counter before sprinting away from the confused and angry kunoichi behind her and towards her house.

-0-

'_I have nothing. Everyone else has everything. It isn't fair. None of them deserve it.'_

Thud

'_None of them work. I hate my life. No, I hate them. I hate them for making me feel like this.'_

Thud

'_I hate them I hate them I hate them I hate them. I wish I could trade places with them. Just for one day. Just for one day I wanna be them. Let them feel how it is to be constantly ignored. I hate them it's not fair I want to _be_ them.'_

Thud. Another kunai.

'_Stupid Haruno. Stupid Ino. Stupid Hinata. Stupid bloodline traits. Stupid chakra. Stupid stereotypical people who overlook personality.'_

Thud

-0-

Tenten walked out in the street two weeks later and spotted Sakura and Hinata. They smiled and waved to her, both slightly nervous and Sakura with a bit of anger. Tenten grinned back and waved, "Hey guys!"

'_Until next time, then.'_

-0-

**A/N: Please review. I've had stories with less chapters and visits and more reviews.**


	5. Sin 3 Greed: Ino

**Disclaimer:** Don't own, don't sue.

**Summary:** Seven deadly sins. Four missions gone wrong. Sometimes things don't always go the way they're planned. Sometimes you have to deal. Some people do it differently than others.

**The Seven Deadly Sins**

Chapter 3 (chapters refer to sin levels; this is the third, least sinful sin): Greed

-0-

_Greed: avaritia; A desire to possess more than one has need or use for_

-0-

**If you haven't figured out already, don't expect characters who already "commit" the sins on a daily basis, to suffer from them when they're especially sad. I mean Chouji for gluttony? Everyone expects that. He does it even when he's in a great mood. It doesn't show a new side to the character.**

Ino slumped into Shikamaru's couch and groaned, her stomach flipping as she absently thought of how dirty she was getting his furniture. "Shikamaru…"

Shikamaru ignored her and walked up the stairs to his room, slamming the door shut with a resounding 'boom'. Crashing sounds from above were heard as she pulled herself up from the overstuffed couch and made her way to the bathroom. A cry of rage and an explosion followed her into the bathroom.

'_Poor Shikamaru…'_

She refused to acknowledge the painful clenching of her own heart and she resolutely pushed aside the horror that had been trying to cloud up her mind. What she wouldn't give for Sakura's inner personality right now…something to block from consciousness those gruesome thoughts in her head.

Ino took off her clothes and tossed them out the window onto ground, but not before pulling out a box of matches. She tossed her bandage wrappings, her jewelry, and her hair ties out as well and struck a match, dropping it on top of the pile of her possessions. She watched them burn and turned away when the last tendril of smoke left, twisting the knob for hot water and stepping into the shower.

It was cold at first, but it heated up quickly. She didn't bother to turn on any cold water and her skin was soon red and irritated, her cheeks and eyes burning. _'Burn away the feel, burn away the sight and the sounds…burn them away!'_

She took the loofah hanging on a small hook on the shower door and scrubbed at herself viciously, trying to scrub away the guilt and the shame. I was only when the hot water ran out that she stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around herself.

After Ino wiped herself to a relatively dry state, she padded up the stairs to Shikamaru's room and entered quietly, avoiding the shattered light bulbs and torn up books. The scorch marks and the blood.

She reached his cabinet, avoiding the hole he had punched in it, and put on one of his black shirts, pulling a fishnet over it. She then searched through his drawers until she found a pair of green boxers with the tag still on it and she ripped it off, donning it before she also took a pair of his black chuunin pants.

'_Hm. He probably went out. I guess I'll write him a note…'_

Ino grabbed a pen and quickly scribbled on a yellow post it he had on his desk. She then walked out of his room and grabbed her wallet and keys from her pack before leaving the house and locking the door. No need for anyone to break in and rob the Naras, eh?

-0-

Ino didn't laugh with glee as she would normally have done. The dead look from before was still in her eyes. She took the bag from the sales clerk and adjusted it slightly so it wouldn't be too much trouble to hold with the other ten bags in her hand.

Ino continued down the street in the shopping district and saw a man in his late teens sitting on tope of a bicycle with a two person carriage attached to the back. Without so much as a word, she tossed her bags in and nodded to him, "1,500 yen an hour. Follow on the street."

The boy grinned and nodded, kicking the brake back and riding slowly so as to not lose Ino. He wasn't dumb enough to steal her things, as his eyes had easily landed on the hitai-ate wrapped around her bicep.

(a/n: 100 jap yen $1)

Ino strolled into another boutique and let a wry smile—the only one she could pull off right now—adorn her face as the sales ladies came to help her. They had obvious disgust for her, seeing as how her hair was still wet and messy, she had small smudges of make-up around her eyes along with dark rings of sleep loss and fatigue. She was wearing badly fitting boys' clothes and her face and neck and arms were still red from the hot water of her shower, but they hadn't missed either her hitai-ate or her little display outside their store.

This girl had money.

Ino browsed through the store, pulling out everything she thought cute and tossing it behind her, the sales lady catching each one. When the pile was a little over a foot thick, she walked to the dressing rooms and took the first from the pile.

'_It wasn't my fault.'_

Ino pulled on a silky crème colored blouse and absently wondered what it would look like with blood smeared on it.

'_Chouji's blood…it wasn't my fault.'_

She pulled off the layered, lavender skirt she had donned and tossed it over the top of the dressing room curtain, "I WANT THIS!"

She took a pair of artfully ripped jeans from the pile and zipped them up. She turned around and examined herself in the mirror.

"_Chouji-kun! Shikamaru-kun! Don't these jeans look nice on me?"_

_Chouji shrugged and tossed a caramel into his mouth, "Yeah, Ino-chan. You should get them."_

She felt tears prickling at the corners of her eyes and she quickly swiped them away. She took off the blouse and tossed it over, "I WANT THESE!"

She threw the jeans into the corner.

'_It wasn't my fault. I wanted to save you! But you were…'_

Ino buttoned up a pale, peach colored sundress and tilted her head, looking at it from a different angle in the mirror.

_Tenten screamed bloody murder when she landed in the arms of a corpse. Ino spared a glance at her and felt a jolt throughout her body._

_No way to mistake that face, those swirls. No way to mistake that face. No way to mistake that face. No way to mistake tha—_

"GI-GIMME THESE!"

Ino sniffed and threw the dress to them.

'_I want more. I _need_ more things!'_

-0-

Ino walked to the shopping mall. She could find a larger variety of stores in there, and the bicycle boy would wait for her outside the entrance.

"Excuse me…"

Ino had been counting the amount of cash she had for the stores that only accepted cash.

Ino turned her head and saw an old man sitting on the street. He was dirty, with a scraggly beard and weathered skin. "Do you have any money to spare? For an old, homeless man like me?"

Ino raised an eyebrow and sneered before stalking away.

"No."

-0-

Ino bumped into Sakura at the mall four days later and nodded to her. Sakura skipped up, dragging a heart eyed Lee along with her.

"Hey Ino-pig!"

Ino halfheartedly murmured a, "Hello forehead girl, Lee-san."

Sakura grinned at her and dug into her pocket, "Hey, Ino-pig! Look at what I found!" She brought out several small hair barrettes, sky blue with little white butterflies on them. "They match your eyes perfectly!"

Ino's eyes teared up at the sight of the butterflies, _'Chouji'_ and she gently stroked the ceramic insect…then she snatched up all the clips. "Thanks, Sakura-chan."

Without another word, she floated away, ghost like, into her favorite kimono store.

'_Chouji, you stupid _fat_ idiot. You shouldn't have gone alone we told you we told you we _told_ you to COME WITH US!'_

Tears rolled down Ino's face as she tried on a pale green kimono with blue and yellow birds embroidered on it, flying towards a sunset.

'_We _told_ you not to wait for that stupid new restaurant to open! We would've taken you once we got back from guard duty!'_

The deep purple obi was a little crooked. Ino adjusted it.

'_You should've come with _us_ when _we_ went! You should've gotten it over with as soon as possible! Look at where your stupid stomach got you now!'_

Ino posed in front of the mirror and nodded. Her eyes slid down to the silk tabi socks on her feet and the delicate _geta_ she wore.

"I'll take the whole set."

-0-

The next time she saw Sakura, she returned the clips, smiling awkwardly. "Um, sorry, Sakura-chan, I didn't mean to be so—"

Sakura shook her head and smiled, understanding lighting her eyes. "It's alright Ino-chan."

Ino nodded in relief.

"So, you wanna go bowling?"

Ino gave a small smile and linked arms with her much mellowed out best friend. "Of course, Sakura-chan."

'_Until next time, then.'_

-0-

**A/N: **This chapter was a lot harder to write. **Please review! At least five reviews for this chapter or else I won't update.**


	6. Sin 5 Wrath: Shikamaru

**Disclaimer:** Don't own, don't sue.

**Summary:** Seven deadly sins. Four missions gone wrong. Sometimes things don't always go the way they're planned. Sometimes you have to deal. Some people do it differently than others.

**The Seven Deadly Sins**

Chapter 5: Wrath

-0-

_Wrath: ira; Inappropriate (unrighteous) feelings of hatred, revenge or even denial, as well as punitive desires outside of justice._

-0-

"Shikamaru…"

Shikamaru stomped away from Ino, pretending not to hear her soft, worried call, and he threw open his room door. He slammed the door shut with chakra filled arms and the plaster wall beside it cracked and bits of paint crumbled.

'_NO!'_

He picked up his lamp and threw it across the room where it shattered and fell to the ground. His throat burned and his heart thumped hard against his ribcage, threatening to break through.

Chouji wasn't supposed to go without them! They were a team!

'_I promised that no one on my team would ever be hurt again!'_

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!"

His chair burst into flames and he kicked it over, sending burning pieces of wood and cushion flying throughout the room. Shikamaru screamed in frustration and punched his mirror angrily, wiping his bloody knuckles on his pants and splashing droplets of blood over his room.

He grabbed his bookshelf and shook it hard, taking books out and throwing them around the room. He clawed at his hair and face, hoping that the pain would get his mind off of Chouji's corpse, those black splotches on his skin and the blueness of his lips. "I can't stay here…can't stay here need to get OUT!"

He brought his arm down and slammed a hole in his cabinet before ripping the door open, knocking a hole in the plaster where the doorknob hit the wall, and stalked out of the house. Ino knew her way around and she had a key to the house.

Once he was outside, he kicked at the leaves that spun around his ankles. He needed to…he needed to train.

'_It wasn't my FAULT! CHOUJI YOU STUPID IDIOT! WHY'D YOU GO!'_

A young girl bumped into him on accident and he snarled, his hair sticking up in all directions and his eyes wild. The girl ran away crying.

When Shikamaru reached the training grounds, he saw a group of young genin, probably just graduated from the academy, laughing and 'training.' He scowled and walked over to the wooden post used for punches and kicks. Ignoring the children, he bent his knees and readied his fists then attacked the pole.

'_I swear I'll kill EVERY MISSING NIN OUT THERE!'_

The pole splintered and went flying. The genin that had previously ignored him stared in awe and one bounced up to him, "Hey mist—"

"DON'T BOTHER ME!"

Shikamaru snarled again and used a quick genjutsu to grow fangs and the genin quickly backed up to the safety of his friends, who stared in terror at him. Shikamaru leapt away, deciding that maybe food would calm him down.

-0-

THUMP

He slammed down a handful of coins and gestured to the waitress, "Shrimp ramen."

When his order came, Shikamaru grabbed a pair of disposable chopsticks and yanked them apart, jamming them into the mass of hot noodles and slurping them up at a speed that would've made Naruto proud. Speaking of Naruto…

"Hey Shikamaru!"

'_Is that idiot _always_ around here!'_

He was accompanied by Kiba, who gave him a short wave before turning back to the menue.

"Wow, Shikamaru. You look like hel—"

"Will you GO AWAY!" Shikamaru cut Naruto off, twisting his face into a sneer and nearly lunging at the hyperactive blonde.

'_He's _so annoying!'

Shikamaru picked up the cup of tea that was free for all customers and finished it in three quick gulps before he glared at Naruto and Kiba, who had turned to stare at him, and stalked off.

'_Chouji, you're so fat you probably deserved to die. It was all YOUR FAULT! You're causing all this guilt on me and Ino, and probably on Tenten too. _You_ were supposed to be there with US! But _noooo_. You just _have_ to be there for the stupid opening night of that DUMB barbeque!'_

"WATCH WHERE THE HELL YOU'RE GOING!" Shikamaru screamed when he was jostled in the crowd.

'_I'll get you stupid missing-nin if it's the last thing I do. Hehe, I still remember your faces. I still remember that you come from Hidden Grass. I still remember your chakra patterns. And I _will_ remember the torture sequences I put you through when I FIND YOU!'_

A manic grin split Shikamaru's face and he felt laughter welling within him. He was going hysterical.

"First I'll slice your lips off…heh heh, boil them in front of you…cut out your eye, layer by layer…peel off pieces of skin...pierce you under your nails…" his mutterings, accompanied by his crazed look, kept several away from him and he walked down the street without anymore shoving or jostling.

"I'll get revenge for you Chouji, don't worry…even if you did get what you DESERVED!"

Without warning, Shikamaru spun and punched a wall, a series of spiderweb cracks working their way away from his fist. He was now running low on chakra due to all the chakra filled hits he had been throwing.

-0-

Sakura dragged Lee with her, several shopping bags slung on both their arms, and she grinned cheerily at Shikamaru. "Hey Shikamaru! What's up! I just saw Ino-chan here!"

Shikamaru ignored her but felt a wave of violence come over him and he wanted to do nothing more than beat Lee's ass into the ground. _'Stupid chakra-less FREAK!'_

It wasn't until he reached the park that he felt slightly back to normal. He sat on his favorite hill and brought his hands to his face, covering the tears that had yet to fall.

'_Calm down Shikamaru. Alright. This anger is only, only a result of…'_ Shikamaru took a deep breath,_ 'only a result of his death. I need to calm down Shikamaru you _need to calm down.'

Shikamaru tried to take deep, relaxing breaths but those lifeless, charcoal eyes continued to flash before his eyes. That pale, black-splotched skin. The stiffness of the limbs—

"ARGH!"

He grabbed his head and brought it forward to his bent knees, rolling over to his side. He wouldn't cry damnit he wouldn't cry! Too late. _'It's just like last time just like last time. When I failed you and me and both of us and you…you nearly died that time.'_

His thoughts rambled on and his breaths came in ragged gasps.

"Wh't th'…I need t' be _calm_ I need to _analyze _this I need to—HOW THE HELL CAN I DEAL WITH THIS!"

He jumped up and sprinted to the forest where he could maybe relax. Chouji always liked going on walks in the forest after a particularly large meal. He had dragged Shikamaru along once, and he had to admit, it was relaxing.

-0-

'_Damn that stupid nondescript ninja who's so _horrible_ at manipulating her chakra that—'_

Shikamaru had come across Tenten during his 'peaceful' walk through the forest and nearly exploded in anger. For an instant, just a split second, he had _hated her._ He had felt something so overwhelmingly powerful that had urged him to go and attack her.

'_It's _her_ fault! _She_ should've been able to stop all the missing-nin from leaving! Then I could've had my revenge!'_

Shikamaru closed his eyes and counted to ten. He got to eight when he felt Tenten's chakra nearing him and he quickly bounded away, to his house.

Ino had locked the door but left her stuff there. She had probably gone shopping.

'_Maybe I'll sleep…'_

He didn't even bother changing his clothes or taking off his sandals, taking sadistic pleasure in stomping mud all over the clean floors of the house, and he flopped onto his bed and promptly fell asleep.

_-0-_

"_You said you'd never let your friends get hur—"_

"_You promised to protect m—"_

"_You failed your missio—"_

"_You were tricked so eas—"_

"_You dare call yourself a shinob—"_

"_It's ALL. YOUR. FAULT!"_

_-0-_

Shikamaru jerked awake, breathless and sweating, and nearly gave himself whiplash when he twisted to scan the walls of his room. "It was…just…a dream," he panted out, and then he fell back onto his bed, putting the back of his hand on his forehead. "Just a dream."

His mother, a very agitated look on her face, poked her head into his room and nodded at his sandals, "Care to explain, Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru glared at his mother through the corner of his eyes, "No _mother._"

His tone was mocking and he gave a sharp bark of laughter at the look in her eyes.

"SHIKAMARU! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU TODAY!" She stormed into the room, a menacing look on her face, and put her hands on her hips, leaning over her son.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I'm leaving. I'll come back sometime later."

"Shikamaru…" his mother hissed in a dangerously low voice as she raised her hand to hit him over the back of his head, when Shikamaru suddenly snapped.

"YOU KNOW WHAT? YOU'RE NOT EVEN A REAL _MOTHER!_" he got up from his bed and stuck an accusatory finger at the speechless woman in front of him and narrowed his eyes.

"No shinobi parents are _real_ parents. When was the last time we took a vacation? Huh? When was the last time _you_ cleaned the dishes? Or the house? I'm a chuunin too and I still find the time to clean and cook and wash! You neglected me for_ SIXTEEN YEARS!_ You and dad NEVER came home before I went to sleep. NEVER walked me to school. NEVER treated me like I was a KID! Well guess what _mom?_ I'M TIRED OF IT!"

He stalked away to his window, and threw a dirty look at the still shocked kunoichi behind him.

"You were _horrible_ parents and I _hate you."_

With those parting words, Shikamaru leapt from roof to roof to the park again and settled in a bench in front of a small pond filled with koi fish.

-0-

He returned the next day for dinner, having fallen asleep on the bench as he watched the twinkling stars and then again as he watched the clouds, and sat down at the dinner table. Shikamaru stared at his mother's hurt eyes and glanced at his father's, and looked away in shame.

He received a _harsh_ spanking (he hadn't gotten spanked since his academy days when he came back with straight fails one semester. That had forced him to work hard enough to get passing grades. So troublesome!) and yelling before he hugged both of his parents and walked to his room. His mother had had tears in her eyes and his father had an oddly cracked voice.

He felt the anger seep out of him once he slid into his now clean bed and hugged his blankets to him. He was allowed temper tantrums, as he was still legally a kid until he could drink, but the ruthless hate and anger he had felt was unacceptable. Shikamaru welcomed the bliss of sleep and fell away to dreaming of clouds floating across the sky.

'_Until next time, then.'_

-0-

**A/N: **Jeez. This fic is turning out to be a lot harder to write than I originally planned. I hope no one was offended with this chapter. It was supposed to be about hate and anger though, so I had to make him mean. This fic was inspired by Elizabeth Culmer's Rituals, which is an excellent story. **Please review!**


	7. Sin 7 Pride: Temari

**A/N: **Finally, the last chapter. I've been putting this off for months, literally. I started in December, I think, and it's March now…

I haven't been able to log in since Thursday I think. BTW, I think I'm going to move chapter one to chapter 6, since it seems to stand alone and stuff. I also don't want ppl to get the impression that this story is about _that_ kinda stuff.

**Seven Deadly Sins**

Chapter 7: Pride

-0-

_Pride: superbia; A desire to be important or attractive to others or excessive love of self._

-0-

Muscles bulged. Sweat beaded. Eyes squinted.

SLAM!

Temari finally shoved the shinobi's arm into the table. Cheers erupted around her from the chuunin and jounin who were all on lunch break from guard duty. The chuunin she had been arm wrestling against cradled his arm against him in the most macho way he could and she smirked.

'_I am better than you.'_

"NEXT!"

An even larger man came up, his arm almost as big as her head (pig tails not included), and he sat in the seat once occupied by the now shamed chuunin.

"I'll beat you no problem, Waru-san!"

The man gave a bark of laughter, "You try that, Temari-san! No need to be cocky!"

Three

Two

One

Each arm pushed at the other, though because Waru's arm was longer, he automatically could put more force behind it. In the excruciating three minutes they held their position, Temari let her mind wander. Big mistake.

_Her usual partner was Kankurou, but Karasu was broken and he needed to repair it._

"_Stupid Kankurou with his stupid dolls! Jeez, what a sissy…"_

_Miles away, Kankurou sneezed._

_Takeshi, her partner for the mission, snorted, "Yeah, and fighting with an oversized **fan** is so much better, right? Be sure to come and play dress up with me this weekend!"_

_Temari smacked him on the head, "Hey hey! No need to mock me! Besides, this is a metal fan! And at least I don't wear make up everywhere…"_

_Miles away, Kankurou sneezed again._

_After a whole day of traveling, the two shinobi reached the village of Seidaikaze on the coast of Wind Country. It was a prosperous trading village (as denoted by the name, 'Prosperous Wind') and harbored the second largest non-shinobi navy in the world. Suna got most of its wooden materials, silk, spices, and other luxury items from Seidaikaze._

_Temari and Takeshi showed their passports and were allowed entrance to bustling village. The duo reached the daimyo's palace (its eastern wing was living quarters for the family while the rest served as an office building) and was escorted to the waiting room. Curiously, Temari crumpled a bit of the small sandwiches they had been served, and fed the crumbs to the koi fish in the pond she sat by. It always entertained her to watch them wiggling to the surface of the water to gulp up the tiny morsels of food._

_Her shinobi senses alerted her of the approaching footsteps and she was at her feet at once, looking as impeccable and deadly as any kunoichi should. Takera was standing as well, and the daimyo's secretary led them to his office. In and out, quickly as possible she wanted._

_No civilian village particularly liked shinobi visiting their village, whether it was for trade or missions, so diplomats were sent every two years to negotiate new terms with the daimyo and village trade relations officials. _

_Gaara, now the Kazekage, had sent her as an act of goodwill. The sister of the head of a shinobi village showed the Seidaikaze officials that they were taken seriously, despite the large gap between their lifestyles._

_Temari and Takera both bowed to the daimyo, receiving a nod in return. His face was young but he would be considered middle-aged by active shinobi terms—age twenty five, probably. His father had died the year before, leaving the seat of daimyo behind._

"_Rihatsu-sama, we are here to negotiate the terms of the new trade relations between the Trading village of Seidaikaze and the Hidden Village of Suna. Our Kazekage has requested we bring you his terms for the agreement. My partner, Takeshi, and I, Temari, will negotiate any terms you have problems with." Her voice was professional, cold to remind the daimyo who he was dealing with, but with no dangerous edge to it._

_The chestnut haired man scanned through the paper, his brow furrowing and his eyes darkening as he read further on. Temari's eyes met Takeshi's. Both had read the requests and found nothing out of the ordinary. In fact, it was practically the same as the one from two years before._

"_There is just one problem I see with this, Temari-san, Takeshi-san."_

_Takeshi stepped forward, his six foot tall frame much more intimidating that Temari's mere five foot six inches. "What is it, Rihatsu-sama? We will, as Temari-san stated, negotiate with you."_

_Rihatsu leaned forward in his chair and folded his hands on top of his desk, glaring slightly at the two teens before him. "The entrance of shinobi in my village."_

_Temari blinked. This was totally ridiculous! How were they to get their trade supplies if they were allowed into the village._

"_Or, the trade with shinobi at all, I'm afraid."_

_Takeshi's eyes narrowed dangerously; Rihatsu didn't react. "I'm afraid I don't understand, Rihatsu-sama."_

"_I've never supported my father, the former daimyo, in his interaction with shinobi. They raise their children to be mercenaries—killers for hire. I've heard of the incident in the Hidden Village of Kiri. A young boy slaughtered hundreds of children in the academy. And your shinobi village is run by a Jinchuuriki, correct? The Hidden Village of Konoha is considering putting a Jinchuuriki in charge as well. Your ANBU have a special torture squad. You hunt down 'missing-nin' and dispose of them." His voice had slowly risen as he listed off the worst points of the shinobi lifestyle. _

"_And are you aware of the lives lost during a shinobi raid? The hundred and thirty villagers, almost half of them women and children, that were killed? You shinobi are nothing but murderers and assassins hiding under the pretext that you are doing something noble. I will _not_ cooperate with such people!" Rihatsu jumped to his feet, slamming his palms flat on his desk and sending a few papers shivering too the ground._

_Takeshi has his fists clenched, though his calm, cool façade hadn't faded. "Rihatsu-sama. We would like to talk over this. Past raids that weren't associated with Suna shouldn't be what this trade agreement is based on. We help your village prosper and—"_

"_GET OUT!"_

_Takeshi was rudely cut off at the daimyo's yell. Temari's eyes widened slightly and she quickly tried to pacify the reddening man, "Please, Rihatsu-sama! This would be good for your village and mine as well! We could renegotiate the terms if you'd like!"_

_Rihatsu's arm raised, shaking, and pointed them to the doorway. "Get. Out. I will call my guards in!"_

_With no choice but to leave, Temari and Takeshi disappeared out the door. No civilian guard could possibly defeat them, but as this was a diplomatic mission, they had to stay peaceful._

"_Bastard…"_

_Temari gripped Takeshi's hand tightly, rage overcoming her. With no more words exchanged, the two set off at top speed to return to Suna and inform Gaara of their failure._

_No blood. No death. No gore. But Temari had rarely felt worse on a mission. Her village was counting on her. Her Kazekage was counting on her. Her **brother.** And she had let them, him, down._

Temari felt the pull of her muscles and she tightened her arm, bending her wrist to twist his back. Gaara's eyes had held so much disappointment, and his dismissal after her debriefing had hurt her. There would be other missions, other trade agreements, but…

'_I'm good. I'm better. I'm great. I'm perfect. That mission was too easy for me, anyways. Put me against an Akatsuki member and I could've won. Diplomatic missions are just so boring.'_

She slammed the man's arm into the table, splintering it. "HA!" she let out a bark of laughter and waggled her finger at him, "Told you I'd win! I'm the best!"

She turned to the other shinobi standing around, "C'mon! Anyone ready to spar me? I'll kick your _ass!_ Two on one!"

Two chuunin smirked and walked up to her. They crouched and the other shinobi quickly backed away, betting among themselves how long (or how short of a time) the chuunin would last. In a mere two minutes, both teens were unconscious and fifty feet away. Cheers and groans came from the crowd as money was exchanged and two more chuunin came up.

Defeat came in three minutes.

Two jounin.

'_I'm good. I'm better. I'm the best. I'm perfect.'_

Defeat came in five minutes.

"TAIJUTSU ONLY!"

A chuunin and a jounin.

Cheers and groans and of course, money exchanged, in five minutes.

Two jounin.

Two unconscious men in seven minutes.

'_I can beat all of them. I'm strong. I'm the strongest.'_

Two chuunin and a jounin—one was a woman.

Defeat in almost ten minutes.

Another jounin.

Defeat in ten minutes.

'_That mission was just too easy.'_

"I'LL RACE YOU! NO CHAKRA!"

A chuunin.

Temari felt her heart pump hard in her chest. Blood pounded in her ears and she ached to rid herself of the nausea that overwhelmed her. The shame.

'_I'm good. I'm better. I'm the best. I'm perfect. I can beat all of them. I'm strong. I'm the strongest. That mission was just too easy.'_

She won by a foot.

'_Look at all these shinobi I beat. I'm better than them. I can beat all of them. I did beat all of them.'_

She wasn't doing this to prove herself. She didn't need to prove herself. She was just better than them. She was better. She was better, better, better. She was better. She was more powerful. She was swifter. She was more graceful. She was better.

An arrogant smile pulled at her lips as she defeated one shinobi after another.

'_I'm the best. I'm the best. I'm the best. I'm the best. I don't need anyone. That mission was just too easy. Just too easy. It was just too easy, that's all.'_

-0-

Gaara frowned at the sudden pile up of shinobi in the hospital. There had been no increase in high level missions recently…. All had similar wounds—bad bruising, cracked ribs, concussions, broken bones, gashes.

The pile of papers had been placed on the ground next to his desk, less important than the others previously scattered in front of him. Must've been two weeks old. Temari entered and spread her legs slightly more than shoulder length apart, her hands clasped behind her back. Standard debriefing stance,

"B Class Reconnaissance Mission. April 12…"

The air of arrogance that had seemed to hang over her the previous weeks had dissipated, and Gaara raised his non-existent brows in comprehension.

'_Until next time, then.'_

-0-

**Fin**

**A/N:** I just couldn't write this chapter. Anyways, I'm gonna go back and revise 'To Feel' because I found a whole bunch of grammar/spelling mistakes, and I don't like how I rushed in some of the chapters.** PLEASE REVIEW! (Spread the word of my story. Heehee)**


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